Universitat de Barcelona


Commented publications

Here, I comment some relevant and selected papers which I consider they contribute somehow to the understanding of some of the perception and action topics.

In this paper we demonstrate that people can integrate early estimates of time to contact with late evidence to improve the precision of the catching. This happens mainly when the cues used for making early estimates are based on different information (e.g. elevation angle of a parabolic flight) than the late cues (e.g. expansion of the image object).


  • Cameron, B. D., de la Malla, C., and López-Moliner, J. (2015). Why do movements drift in the dark? Passive versus active mechanisms of error accumulation, Journal of Neurophysiology, 114(1):390-9.

When we repeatedly point to objects with the unseen hand, our hand position drifts with respect to the targets. In this paper we demonstrate that this drift is an mainly a passive mechanism based on error accumulation. The system assumes the final position is mostly correct (based on priors) and do not make any correction until the discrepancy between the unseen hand and the target reaches a noticeable value.


  • Keil, M. S. and López-Moliner, J. (2012). Unifying time to contact estimation and collision avoidance across species. PLoS Computational Biology, 8(8): e1002625.

Previous models (i.e. \(\eta\) and \(\tau\)) that tried to explain the profile of firing response neurons sensitive to impending collisions were mainly phenomenological and also include terms (i.e. exponentials) that are difficult to implement at the neural level. In this paper we propose a new framework which is neurophysiologically plausible and provides an unified account of different types of neural responses as well as psychophysical data.


  • López-Moliner, J. and Keil, M. (2012). People favour imperfect catching by assuming a stable world. PLoS ONE, 7(4):1–8.

The retinal image is ambiguous because depends on the object’s size and distance. Dominant models of time-to-contact (e.g. \(\tau\)-function) rely on optical variables only without resorting to physical variables. This paper shows that people very quickly assume a known physical size underlying the variability of the retinal image. Computations become simpler and people can time the initiation of the actions based on visual angle threshold. This paper provides a more general account of interceptive behaviour than López-Moliner, Field and Wann (2007).


  • López-Moliner, J., Field, D. T., and Wann, J. P. (2007). Interceptive timing: Prior knowledge matters. Journal of Vision, 7(13):11,1–8.

This paper demonstrated for the very first time that prior knowledge of physical size of the approaching object affects the optical variable that is being used by the system. Subjects switched to using a rate of expansion threshold in the condition where physical size was known. The response then did not require combining visual angle and its rate of expansion. A posterior paper (commented above) generalizes the model that encapsulates physical size.


  • López-Moliner, J., Smeets, J. B. J., and Brenner, E. (2004). Components of motion perception revealed: two different after-effects from a single moving object. Vision Research, 44:2545–2549.

When looking at a normal moving object, there is only one perceived global motion. However, we know that locally there can be considerable ambiguity (the aperture problem). Does one adapt to all the local components of motion, including those that one does not perceive, or only to the perceived global motion? In this paper we nicely show that we adapt to components that are local and not perceived.


Full list of publications

2022

  • Boned, J., & López-Moliner, J. (2022). Duration judgments are mediated by the similarity with the temporal context. Scientific Reports, 12(1), 22575.

  • de la Malla, C., & López-Moliner, J. (2022). Scene variability biases our decisions, but not our perceptual estimates. Journal of experimental psychology: human perception and performance.

  • Décima, A., Barraza, J., and López-Moliner, J. (2022). The perceptual dynamics of the contrast induced speed bias. Vision Research, 191:107966.

2021

  • López-Moliner, J., de la Malla, C. Motion-in-depth effects on interceptive timing errors in an immersive environment. Scientific Reports 11, 21961 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-01397-x

  • Aguado, B. and López-Moliner, J. (2021). Gravity and known size calibrate visual information to time parabolic trajectories. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 15:642025:1–19.

  • Jovanovic, L., López-Moliner, J., and Mamassian, P. (2021). Contrasting contributions of movement onset and duration to self-evaluation of sensorimotor timing performance. European Journal of Neuroscience, 54(3):5092–5111.

  • Aguado, B. and López-Moliner, J. (2021). Flexible viewing time when estimating time-to-contact in 3d parabolic trajectories. Journal of Vision, 21(4):9.

  • Jörges, B., La Scaleia, B., López-Moliner, J., Lacquaniti, F., and Zago, M. (2021). Perceptual judgments of duration of parabolic motions. Scientific Reports, 11(1):1–13.

2020

  • Jörges, B. and López-Moliner, J. (2020). Determining mean and standard deviation of the strong gravity prior through simulations. Plos One, 15(8):e0236732.

  • Cámara, C., López-Moliner, J., Brenner, E., and de la Malla, C. (2020). Looking away from a moving target does not disrupt the way in which the movement toward the target is guided. Journal of Vision, 20(5):5–5.

  • Knelange, E. B. and López-Moliner, J. (2020). Increased error-correction leads to both higher levels of variability and adaptation. PloS One, 15(2):e0227913.

2019

  • López-Moliner, J., Vullings, C., Madelain, L., and van Beers, R.J. (2019). Prediction and final temporal errors are used for trial-to-trial motor corrections. Scientific Reports, 9(1):19230.

  • Jörges, B. and López-Moliner, J. (2019). Earth-gravity congruent motion facilitates ocular control for pursuit of parabolic trajectories. Scientific Reports, 9(14094):1–13.

  • Linares, D., Aguilar-Lleyda, D., and López-Moliner, J. (2019). Decoupling sensory from decisional choice biases in perceptual decision making. eLife, 8:e43994.

  • Aguado, B. and López-Moliner, J. (2019). Perceived speed of motion in depth modulates misjudgements of approaching trajectories consistently with a slow prior. Vision Research, 159:1 – 9.

  • Knelange, E. and López-Moliner, J. (2019). Decreased temporal sensorimotor adaptation due to perturbation-induced measurement noise. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 13(46):1–11.

2018

  • Aguilar-Lleyda,D., Tubau,E., López-Moliner,J (2018). An object-tracking model that combines position and speed explains spatial and temporal responses in a timing task. Journal of Vision, 18(12), 1-19

  • Jörges,B., Hagenfeld, L., López-Moliner, J. (2018) The use of visual cues in gravity judgements on parabolic motion. Vision Research, 149, 47-58

  • Cámara, C., de la Malla, C., López-Moliner, J., and Brenner, E. (2018). Eye movements in interception with delayed visual feedback. Experimental Brain Research, 236(7):1837–1847

2017

  • Jörges, B., López-Moliner J., (2017) Gravity as a strong prior: Implications for perception and action. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 11:203. DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2017.00203

2016

  • Maselli A., Kilteni, K. López-Moliner J., Slater, M. (2016) The sense of body ownership relaxes temporal constraints for multisensory integration. Sci Rep., 3;6:30628. DOI: 10.1038/srep30628.

  • Linares, D.; López-Moliner, J. (2016). quickpsy: An R Package to Fit Psychometric Functions for Multiple Groups. The R Journal, 8, 1. 122-131

  • López-Moliner, J., Brenner, E. (2016). Flexible timing of eye movements when catching a ball. Journal of Vision, 16, 13. DOI:10.1167/16.5.13

2015

  • Corveleyn, X.; López-Moliner, J.; Coello, Y. (2015) Temporal and spatial constraints of action effect on sensory binding. Experimental Brain Research, 233: 3379. DOI: 10.1007/s00221-015-4402-x
  • Rodríguez-Herreros, B.; Rodríguez-Fornells, A.; López-Moliner, J. (2015). The neural correlates of motion-induced shifts in reaching. Psychophysiology, 52, 1577–1589. DOI: 10.1111/psyp.12519
  • Pérez-Bellido, A.; Ernst, M.; Soto-Faraco, S.; López-Moliner, J. (2015). Visual limitations shape audio-visual integration. Journal of Vision, 15, 5, 1-15
  • Kokkinara, E.; Slater, M.; López-Moliner, J. (2015) The effects of visuomotor calibration to the perceived space and body, through embodiment in immersive virtual reality. ACM Transactions on Applied Perception, 13, 1, 1-22, DOI:10.1145/2818998
  • Rodríguez-Herreros, B., Amengual, J., Gurtubay-Antolín, A., Richter, L., Jauer, P., Erdmann, C., Schweikard, A., López-Moliner, J., Rodríguez-Fornells, A., Münte, T. F. (2015). Microstructure of the superior longitudinal fasciculus predicts stimulation-induced interference with on-line motor control. Neuroimage, 120:254-65. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2015.06.070
  • de la Malla, C., and López-Moliner, J. (2015). Hitting moving targets with a continuously changing temporal window, Experimental Brain Research, 233(9):2507-15. DOI: 10.1007/s00221-015-4321-x
  • de la Malla, C., and López-Moliner, J. (2015). Predictive plus online visual information optimizes temporal precision in interception, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance, 41(5):1271-80. DOI: 10.1037/xhp0000075
  • Cameron, B. D., de la Malla, C., and López-Moliner, J. (2015). Why do movements drift in the dark? Passive versus active mechanisms of error accumulation, Journal of Neurophysiology, 114(1):390-9, DOI: 10.1152/jn.00032.2015.
  • Pannunzi, M., Pérez-Bellido, A., Pereda-Baños, A., López-Moliner, J., Deco, G. and Soto-Faraco, S. (2015). Deconstructing multi-sensory enhancement in detection. Journal of Neurophysiology, 113(6):1800-18, DOI: 10.1152/jn.00341.2014
  • Corveleyn, X., López-Moliner, J., and Coello, Y. (2015). Sensorimotor adaptation modifies action effects on sensory binding. Atten Percept Psychophys, 77(2):626-637
  • Cameron, B. D., López-Moliner, J. (2015) Target modality affects visually guided online control of reaching. Vision Research, 110:233-43. DOI: 10.1016/j.visres.2014.06.010

2014

  • Cameron, B. D.; de la Malla, C.; and López-Moliner, J. (2014). The role of differential delays in integrating transient visual and proprioceptive information. Frontiers in Psychology, 5(50).
  • de la Malla, C.; López-Moliner, J.; and Brenner, E. (2014). Dealing with delays does not transfer across sensorimotor tasks. Journal of Vision, 14(12).

2013

  • Gómez, J. and López-Moliner, J. (2013). Synergies between optical and physical variables in intercepting parabolic targets. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, 7(4):1–16.
  • Pérez-Bellido, A., Soto-Faraco, S., and López-Moliner, J. (2013). Sound-driven enhancement of vision: disentangling detection-level from decision-level contributions. Journal of Neurophysiology, 109(4):1065–77.
  • Rodríguez-Herreros, B., de Grave, D. D. J., López-Moliner, J., Brenner, E., and Smeets, J. B. J. (2013). Shifted visual feedback of the hand affects reachability judgments in interception. Vision Research,88:30–37.
  • López-Moliner, J., Supèr, H., and Keil, M. (2013). The time course of estimating time-to-contact: Switching between sources of information. Vision Research, 92:53–58.

2012

  • Keil, M. S. and López-Moliner, J. (2012). Unifying time to contact estimation and collision avoidance across species. PLoS Computational Biology, 8(8): e1002625.
  • López-Moliner, J. and Keil, M. (2012). People favour imperfect catching by assuming a stable world. PLoS ONE, 7(4):1–8.
  • Corveleyn, X., López-Moliner, J., and Coello, Y. (2012). Motor action reduces temporal asynchrony between perceived visual changes. Journal of Vision, 12(11):1–16.
  • de la Malla, C., López-Moliner, J., and Brenner, E. (2012). Seeing the last part of a hitting movement is enough to adapt to a temporal delay. Journal of Vision, 12(10):1–15.
  • de la Malla, C. and López-Moliner, J. (2012). How timely can our hand movements be? Hum Mov Sci, 31:1103–1117.
  • Mouta, S., Santos, J. A., and López-Moliner, J. (2012). The time to passage of biological and complex motion. Journal of Vision, 12(2):21,1–14.
  • Romeo, A., Puig, M., Zapata, L., López-Moliner, J., and Supèr, H. (2012). Stimulus detection after interruption of the feedforward response in a backward masking paradigm. Cognitive Neurodynamics,6(5):459-66. DOI: 10.1007/s11571-012-9193-1.

2011

  • Rodríguez-Herreros, B. and López-Moliner, J. (2011). Proprioception improves temporal accuracy in a coincidence-timing task. Exp Brain Res, 210(2):251–258.
  • Mendonça, C., Santos, J. A., and López-Moliner, J. (2011). The benefit of multisensory integration with biological motion signals. Exp Brain Res, 213:185–92.

2000-2010

  • López-Moliner, J., Brenner, E., Louw, S., and Smeets, J. B. J. (2010). Catching a gently thrown ball. Experimental Brain Research, 206:409–417.
  • de la Malla, C. and López-Moliner, J. (2010). Detection of radial motion depends on spatial displacement. Vision Research, 50:1035–1040.
  • Tubau, E. and López-Moliner, J. (2009). Knowing what to respond in the future does not cancel the influence of past events. PLoS ONE, 4(5):1–6.
  • Rodríguez-Herreros, B. and López-Moliner, J. (2008). The influence of motion signals in hand movements. Experimental Brain Research, 191:321–329.
  • López-Moliner, J., Field, D. T., and Wann, J. P. (2007). Interceptive timing: Prior knowledge matters. Journal of Vision, 7(13):11,1–8.
  • Linares, D. and López-Moliner, J. (2007). Absence of flash-lag when judging global shape from local positions. Vision Research, 47:357–362.
  • Linares, D., López-Moliner, J., and Johnston, A. (2007). Motion signal and the perceived positions of moving objects. Journal of Vision, 7(7):1,1–7.
  • López-Moliner, J., Brenner, E., and Smeets, J. B. J. (2007). Effects of texture and shape on perceived time to passage: Knowing ”what” influences judging ”when”. Perception & Psychophysics, 69(6):887–894.
  • López-Moliner, J. and Soto-Faraco, S. (2007). Vision affects how fast we hear sounds move. Journal of Vision, 7(12):6,1–7.
  • Tubau, E., Hommel, B., and López-Moliner, J. (2007). Modes of executive control in sequence learning: from stimulus-based to plan-based control. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General,136: 43–63.
  • López-Moliner, J. and Linares, D. (2006). The flash-lag effect is reduced when the flash is perceived as a sensory consequence of our action. Vision Research, 46:2122–2129.
  • Brouwer, A. M., López-Moliner, J., Brenner, E., and Smeets, J. B. J. (2006). Determining whether a ball will land behind or in front of you: not just a combination of expansion and angular velocity. Vision Research, 46:382–391.
  • Linares, D. and López-Moliner, J. (2006). Perceptual asynchrony between color and motion with a single direction change. Journal of Vision, 6:974–981.
  • López-Moliner, J. (2005). Reaction time asymmetries between expansion and contraction. PsicoLógica, 26:139–146.
  • Tubau, E. and López-Moliner, J. (2004). Spatial interference and response control in sequence learning: the role of explicit knowledge. Psychological Research, 68:55–63.
  • López-Moliner, J., Smeets, J. B. J., and Brenner, E. (2004). Components of motion perception revealed: two different after-effects from a single moving object. Vision Research, 44:2545–2549.
  • López-Moliner, J., Smeets, J. B. J., and Brenner, E. (2003). Comparing the sensitivity of manual pursuit and perceptual judgments to pictorial depth effects. Psychological Science, 14:232–236.
  • López-Moliner, J., Smeets, J. B. J., and Brenner, E. (2003). Similar effects of a motion-in-depth illusion on manual tracking and perceptual judgements. Experimental Brain Research, 151:553–556.
  • López-Moliner, J., Maiche, A., and Estaun, S. (2003). Perception of acceleration in motion-in-depth with only monocular and both monocular and binocular information. PsicoLógica, 24:93–108.
  • López-Moliner, J. and Bonnet, C. (2002). Speed of response initiation in a time-to-contact discrimination task reflects the use of η. Vision Research, 42:2419–2430.
  • López-Moliner, J. and Sopena, J. (1993). Variable binding using serial order in recurrent neural networks. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 686:90–96.

Refereed abstracts


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